Furniture is often selected as much for the aesthetic appearance of the furniture item as the intended function of the furniture item. As such, consumers often devote considerable attention to whether the appearance and color of the furniture item matches the decor of the intended room for the furniture item and the other furniture or other items in the room. Similarly, consumers often move or replace a furniture item if the decor in the room or the consumer's taste changes. In particular, children often have distinctive and constantly changing tastes that can result in a furniture item being deemed “unsuitable” even while the furniture item is still fully functional.
A primary factor in the aesthetic appearance of a furniture item is the color and design of the exterior surfaces of furniture items. In particular, the color and general design or appearance of the headboard, footboard, the face of drawers, the cabinet doors and other portions of the furniture item that make up a substantial portion of the overall exterior surface of the furniture item can dramatically affect the overall appearance of the furniture item. As a result, certain furniture items comprise interchangeable panels integrated into various exterior furniture components. These can comprise beds, dressers, cabinets, night stands and the like. The interchangeable panels have different aesthetic appearances such that the panels can be swapped with panels to suit the consumer's changing tastes or decor. The inherent challenge of interchangeable panels is releasably engaging the panels by the furniture components and not having the attachment system be visible and obvious, such as openings cut into drawers for sliding the panels. Interchangeable panels can be integrated into furniture components by positioning the panel against the frame of the furniture component such that the panel can be viewed through the opening in the frame such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,543,071. A backing is then placed against the rear of the interchangeable panel and attached to the frame to maintain the interchangeable panel against the frame. A drawback of this approach is that interchangeable panels are often relatively thin or even flexible requiring that the backing provide the necessary structural support. Alternatively, the slot for receiving the interchangeable panel can be cut in the frame allowing panels to be slid into the frame such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,658,677. In this configuration, the frame often comprises a door or gate for maintaining the panel within the slot.
A common drawback of the presently available systems for affixing interchangeable panels to a furniture item is that the frame of the furniture item must typically be modified or be specially constructed for receiving the interchangeable panel. As the current trends in furniture construction emphasize efficient construction where a single part may be used in several furniture item lines, a specially constructed or modified furniture component may form a bottleneck in the overall assembly of the furniture item. As such, there is a need for an efficient means of releasably integrating interchangeable panels into a furniture item.